Old Mill, Dundee, MI
Investigators:
Megan, Ace and Brenda
Equipment: ePod, Flir, Maglight Flashlights, Video and Audio Recorders, Ovulis, Trigger objects, SP-11.
History:
According to the mill’s website, “Over the years, it has served as a grist mill, hydro-electric power plant, Ford factory and fabricating factory. Now it is has been restored by community volunteers to create a historical museum. The three-story frame mill as we know it was built in 1848-49 by Alfred Wilkerson, as a grist mill. The nearby dam had been constructed out of logs in 1846. The building is of Greek Revival design, popular in Monroe County in the 1840’s. “It is compact, geometric and of exquisite proportion,” according to the community’s Sesquicentennial Book, published in 1974. The windows are double-hung with multiple lights. The exterior doors are divided horizontally (Dutch) and the overall design is symmetrical. Hand-hewn beams, 10 x 10 inches for the main columns, support the building. The roof, floors and other connections were made with oak pegs. No longer existing are two smaller additions at the rear of the mill which were used to store flour barrels and milling tools during the building’s grist mill days. The Wilkersons sold the mill to Henry Smith of Berlin Township, in 1880 for $8,000. Two years later, Captain R.B. Davis purchased the mill. He built a new rafter dam in 1897. Timbers were floated to the site of the dam from a railroad bridge upstream which was unused and disassembled. Capt. Davis ground buckwheat flour and feed. In 1910, he sold the mill site to the Dundee Hydraulic Power Company, which built a concrete dam.
In the 1920’s Detroit Edison acquired the rights to power the Village, and the mill stood abandoned and weather-beaten until the 1930’s. In 1931, Village officials voted to demolish the building in a clean-up campaign. However, Henry Ford informed them that he was the new owner. In 1935, Mr. Ford began work on the Old Mill. He stripped the building to its original timber frame. It was rebuilt along the old lines, and timber for the mill foundation was cut from adjacent land and hand-hewed. Henry Ford also added a limestone structure in which he installed a Leffel turbine-powered G.E. generator and a steam-powered generator as well as a foundry and steam boilers. His new factory was now part of his grand design for dotting the countryside with village industries. The Dundee plant produced welding tips for Ford’s main factories. In the Depression Era, the plant was of major importance to the local economy. After Mr. Ford’s death, the company gradually withdrew its support of the village industries and the plant was sold in 1954 to Wolverine Manufacturing Company. The company converted the plant into a paper mill to produce gasket material. In 1970, Wolverine sold the landmark to the Village of Dundee for $1.00. The mill stood unused for the next decade until 1981 when the Old Mill Restoration Committee, a group of community volunteers, undertook the daunting task of turning the mill structure, hose first floor was covered with tar and chicken wire, into a museum.”
Claims:
Currently SWPI is the team that manages most of the adult hunts at this site. The site appears to be very active and there is talk about a young native girl that haunts the site. There is possibly many spirits attached to items at the site due to it being a museum.
Investigation
This investigation was a public hunt put on the DPX (Detroit Paranormal Expeditions). They were very quick sessions broken up on various levels of the museum. Our team first started on the third floor.
Our Ovilus picked up the name Peggy and from what volunteers told us there was a wedding dress owned by a Margaret.
We then moved to the second floor but was barely able to get stuff set up before our group was moved to the basement. We did get some flashlight activity but not enough time was given to determine if it was paranormal. We tried to start an SP-11 Session as well.
In the basement, Brenda attempted to take some FLIR photos but they did not save to the camera. The DPX team used a Kinnect program to show others how they may be able to pick up entities. We then moved to another part of the basement to conduct and EVP session. Here the group then split up to different sections of the basement. Brenda had to leave due to the high mold content causing allergy issues in that area.
The last session was in the ball room with the group used the Spiritus application. Many voices came out and called members names. Brenda kept hearing the word “Wolf”
Ace was sensing a spirit in the room.
Conclusion:
The site appears to be very activity. Theory is that many entities get energy from moving water sources and this would be the optimal place for spirits to live and be energized. Also, with all the artifacts in the building, we are sure these were special items for specific persons, thus the family donating them to the museum which would cause entities to be on site. Many teams have investigated this site so it is safe to assume there is much paranormal activity onsite. We wish we had more time during the sessions but at this time is was not possible because it was a public hunt.
